SEATTLE - When the Portland Timbers lose a game these days, the culprits are usually failure to finish scoring chances and inadequate defense on set pieces.

Those issues surfaced again for the Timbers and the not so surprising result was a 1-0 loss to Seattle in an intense and oftentimes chippy game Sunday night in front of a record crowd of 67,385 and a national television audience at CenturyLink Field.

No loss is desirable, but any loss is magnified in the tightly bunched Western Conference. The Timbers (9-4-12, 39 points) conceded a set piece goal to Seattle forward Eddie Johnson in the 60th minute and now find themselves in fourth place in the conference, just two points clear of Seattle (11-8-4, 37 points) and Dallas and four points ahead of eighth-place San Jose.

"We're going to keep suffering if we don't find goals and if we don't sort out set pieces," Portland coach Caleb Porter said. "This game will continue to be cruel and we'll continue to leave games feeling disappointed unless we find goals and unless we stop goals."

The Timbers didn't play terribly in the game and handled the pressure of playing in front of the huge crowd in the cavernous stadium very well. They started the game deliberately and took the crowd out of the game with a methodical and measured approach.

The Timbers handled Seattle forward Clint Dempsey just as well. The heralded Dempsey, making his home debut with the team after signing a $34 million contract, had four shots, but the Timbers didn't allow him to score.

"I thought we were really up for the challenge. It was a big game, an emotional game," left back Michael Harrington said. "I thought we held our composure really well."

Portland gradually built up its game in the first half, increasing the pressure against the Sounders. The game was even through the first half and the Timbers were happy to enter the locker room in a scoreless game at halftime.

"I thought it was one of our best first halves of the year," Harrington said.

The problem was the Timbers couldn't score in the first half. Or the second half. And they had chances, plenty of chances.

Jack Jewsbury's header from inside the box looked destined for the back of the net, but Seattle defender DeAndre Yedlin stood on the goalline and headed the ball away in the fourth minute. Forward Ryan Johnson had a breakaway after a terrific through ball pass from Diego Valeri, but Johnson couldn't get a clean shot when Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning quickly came off his line and smothered the attempt in the 16th minute.

"The keeper came out pretty fast on my one chance I had," Johnson said. "It's just one of those games that the chances just didn't go in."

Valeri's shot from the top of the box bounced off the post and Johnson's header off the rebound was tipped away in the 35th minute. And in a finish that encapsulated the Timbers scoring issues, Gspurning made a diving save of a header by center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste in the 93rd minute.

"If you're an attacking player and you don't score a goal, to some extent, how good of a performance was it? Ultimately, you're paid to score goals," Porter said. "(Darlington) Nagbe, (Rodney) Wallace, (Diego) Valeri, Ryan Johnson. Even Jose (Valencia) coming in the last 30 (minutes), Kalif (Alhassan). These guys played well but they know they have to find goals somehow."

Talking about "we're not finishing" has become more common than the Timbers would prefer during the second half of the regular season. It's impossible to win games without scoring at least one goal.

"We feel like we should be winning these games instead of tying them or losing them like we did (Sunday)," Harrington said. "It becomes frustrating. We need to be a little more ruthless on both sides of the ball."

The Sounders did score one goal and they took home the three points, thanks to the Timbers continuing inability to consistently defend set pieces. This time, it looked as if rookie right back Alvas Powell failed to mark Johnson close enough. Johnson, known for getting in the air for headers, punished the Timbers after a Mauro Rosales corner.

"That seems to be kind of a re-occurring theme the last month or so," Harrington said. "We're dropping points because we're not making plays in moments like that."

Notes: The center midfielder position, once an area of depth, was thin Sunday. The Timbers played against Seattle without starters Will Johnson, who missed his third consecutive game with an injured shoulder and Diego Chara, who was suspended for the game after an accumulation of yellow cards. Jack Jewsbury, who started and played on a sore right ankle, re-injured the ankle and came out in the 86th minute and Ben Zemanski didn't start after sustaining an injury, but came on for Jewsbury. …The attendance was the largest ever for a soccer game in Seattle and also the second-largest attendance in MLS history for a stand-alone (non double-header) game.